Pigpen Solos

Pigpen recorded several songs for an album which never was
released. These include "C.C. Rider" and "Bring Me My Shotgun", recorded in
1970. In February, 1973, he recorded a Lightning Hopkins song, "She's Mine",
as well as "I Believe", "Like A Long Time", and "Michael", at his apartment in
Corte Madera, CA. ...
Another song, intended for the solo album, was the Clancy Carlile song
"I'm A Loving Man", which was recorded in 1969 at Pacific High Recording,
located on Brady Alley just off Market, in San Francisco. ...
The album was to be released, tentatively,
on Mercury, or its Smash subsidiary, with Bob Serempa as the A&R
person.

Many of these songs have been given different names over the years, and
circulate in all sorts of fragments and orderings. The most common tape in
circulation has the following songs (with alternative titles in brackets):

It appears from Ihor's discography and other sources that the bulk of the songs
were recorded around 1970 (though they are sometimes wrongly dated as 1966).
They are often labelled as "Appartment Demo,"
"Pigpen Studio Demos" or "Pigpen Acoustic Demos."
"I Believe," "She's Mine" and
"Looks Like A Long Time" come from 1973; and
"Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Betty and Dupree" are from a recording with Jorma
Kaukonen from 1964.

Other Tapes etc

One version of this material was issued as a bootleg LP under the title
"Bring Me My Shotgun." This had tracks:

Notes(1) not listed in the Deadhead's Taping Compendium (except
as "Following a brief rap ..."). A very short spoken word lyric

The Deadhead's Taping Compendium gives the following account of the additional
tracks at the end of the tape:

"The folk motif continues with "Hobo Jungle Rap," a simple one-chord monologue in which Pigpen describes his first encounters with local hobos.
After dissolving quickly as a song, the monologue continues as a spoken word narration.
In it, Pigpen talks briefly about his first experiences hopping freight trains, adding a sweet lick from his guitar here and there.
Much to our dismay, however, the tape breaks off prematurely.

"Following the tape flip, the subsequent two tracks are disturbingly haunting.
All the preceding selections are based around traditional blues and folk approaches, but these songs are derived from a deeper spiritual influence, remotely similar to that of Charlie Patton or Son House.
Vocally, these are emotionally harrowin, and the musical approach is dark, almost occultish.
"Passing Through," while admittedly not a very dynamic selection and further hampered by feedback blasts, is a chilling tale of weary travel, with loneliness and despondency prevailing.
"Easy Rider," which at the outset sounds distinctly similar to the Rolling Stones' "Sister Morphine," is only slightly less morbid lyrically but far eerier in execution.
Unlike "Passing Through," which is delivered from an emotional and perhaps autobiographical approach, this tune is presented in the form of a narrative, focussed intently on setting as well as character.

"Following a brief rap, the tape concludes with a fragmentary and comic attempt at the fifties sock hop classic, "In The Still Of The Night," complete with teen idol falsetto, before the finale of "Big Boy Pete," which is playful and immature."

Note that this tape doesn't include "That Train" or "Baby Please Don't Go," so
there are still unknowns about what was recorded when.

circulates with a variety of dates. It is sometimes listed as "Pigpen's Final:
Recorded 3/9/1973," which can't be right because Pigpen died on 8 March. I've
also seen it dated as February 1973 and as 5 March 1973.

The Deadhead's Taping Compendium also lists a 1973 tape with the following
track list:

"This tape contains a mixture of traditional blues and extraordinary ballads,
all executed solo by Pigpen at the piano. From the opening notes of "Playhouse,"
the listener is grabbed by the authenticity of the delivery. Passionate, soulful,
and remarkably melodic are Pigpen's vocals, giving the track a distinctive
pre-World War II feel. "Walkin' Blues," which actually only contains one verse
from Robert Johnson's definitive version, begins as a boogie-woogie stomp, but
restarts as a common-time shuffle. Finding a comfortableniche, Pigpen showcases
his improvisational skills by taking several liberties with the lyrics and
masterfully adlibbing several verses of his own. The instrumentation contains
more than several shaky sports, but they are greatly overshadowed by the vocal
delivery. The following "Driving Wheel" is uncessarily brief, lasting only two
verses, thus remaining disappointingly unremarkable. In contrast, Pigpen's
interpretation of the classic "Kansas City" is a barrelhouse stomp from start
to finish. Instrumentally, Pigpen chops at this with the rhythm of a choo-choo,
and the tune is further complemented by vocals that are as sweet as a honey bee's
nectar. On the second take, Pigpen uses the intrumental break to nochanlantly
shift to "St Louis Women," which is considerably saltier in execution, and
certainly more characteristic of the Pigpen we're accustomed to. Unfortunately,
the tape then breaks off midverse."

"Side B begins with "Bluebird," a soulful, albeit extremely erratic, selection.
Pigpen's attack on the verse is done with the passion of James Brown, filled
to the brim with soul and emotion. However, the refrain is unusually lethargic,
slower in tempo and noticeably less enthusiastic in delivery. The pattern
repears itself again on the second verse and refrain, although considerably
less severe, before dissolving abruptly.

"My Property" is musically identical to the following "So Long (No Tomorrow),"
similar in somberness but lyrically far less dreary. Like the preceding "Bluebird,"
this selection dissolves prematurely.

"The tape concludes with "No Tomorrow," a deeply sad and introspective ballad.
This could arguably be considered Pigpen's swan song, with its haunting melody
and frighteningly forboding lyrics. The instrumentatism is classic melancholy,
and eloquent throughout. Even so, it is far overshadowed by the moving emotion
displayed in Pigpen's vocals. Crying out "Don't make me live in this pain no
longer / You know I'm getting weaker not stronger," it is as though the performer
awakens through the music to the realisation of the final curtain that lurks
momentarily, leaving the listener with a touch of sadness deep and removed."

This tape was played by David Gans during the KPFA Grateful Dead Marathon in 2003. I'm not sure what the song
"So Long Baby" is.

Pigpen played in a band called the Zodiacs in 1963, with Tro Weidenheimer on lead guitar and Bill Kreutzmann on drums
and sometimes with Jerry Garcia on bass. No tapes exist, but the songs they played included
Searchin',
Walkin' The Dog,
Sensation, San-Ho-Zay,
Hideaway,
and various Jimmy Reed tunes.